Greg Jelks

Gregory Dion Jelks (16 August 1961 – 6 January 2017) was an American-Australian baseball player who played with the Philadelphia Phillies. He spent the majority of his career in the minor leagues, and was most notable playing with the Australia national baseball team and the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League.

Professional career Born in Centre, Alabama, Jelks attended Cherokee County High School (Alabama), where he earned all-state honours in baseball and basketball. He attended Gadsden State Community College, where he played both sports for the Cardinals. Then he was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies in . The following summer Jelks made his debut with the Bend Phillies of the Northwest League. The following year, Jelks hit 24 home runs and 75 RBI for the Spartanburg Spinners in A class ball of the South Atlantic League. In , Jelks appeared in 123 AAA games for the Maine Guides and that summer, Jelks was promoted to Philadelphia for 10 games, where out of eleven at bats he collected one hit, a double off Montreal Expos pitcher Neal Heaton. Jelks became a free agent again in and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and played for the Louisville Redbirds. Over the course of eight minor league seasons, Jelks totaled 771 games, 96 home runs, 361 RBI, and a career batting average of .245.

During the 1990s, he played professionally in Italy and Australia. In , he started his ABL career with the Perth Heat and Jelks enjoyed Australia, and decided to live in Perth, where he earned dual citizenship. Apart from a short stint with the Melbourne Reds in 1996, Jelks continued to play for the Heat throughout the ABL, as well as with Western Australia for the International Baseball League of Australia. Jelks was let go by the Wild Things after he did not lead them to the playoffs, and to a 48–48 record.

Death On a flight en route to Australia from the United States, Jelks fell asleep and could not be woken up, later being pronounced dead on January 6, 2017, aged 55. Jelks became the first (and only, as of 2024) MLB player in history to have died in Australia.